Automatic sprinkler-head.



N0- 848,347. PATENTED MAR. 26, 1907.

' J. A. CASS.

AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER HEAD.

I APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 6. 1906.

209; mes/sea UNETED STATEg name A. oass, or SYRACUSE, NEw YoRK.

auromarto'swimmers-ME D.

Specification of Letters Patent.

. Patented March 26, 1907.

- ilpniioation filed November 6, 1.906. Serial No. 342.256.

To all lei/tom, it nul/y coneern:

Be it known that I, JAMES A. Cass, of Syracuse, in the county ofOnondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Automatic Sprinkler-Heads, of which the following, takenin connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, andexact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in automaticsprinkler-heads adapted to be attached to one of the distributing--pipes of the sprinkler system and provided with a discharge-openingwhich is normally closed'by a suitable stopper held in place by afusible detent. T hcse sprinkler-heads are in most instances required toremain indefinite periods of time before being called into activeoperation by the occurrence of a fire; and one of the essential objectsof the construction hereinafter described is to prevent undue corrosionor deterioration of any of the elements, and particularly those whichare relied upon to close the discharge-passage, so that no matter howlong a time may have elapsed between the installation of the sprinklersystem and firstoccurrence of the tire the fusing of the destructibledetent will allow the instantaneous release of the stopper, and therebypermit the discharge of the .tion or unduly water in the vicinity of the"fire by which the detent was fused.

In other words, one of the most important objects of my presentinvention is to rovide a non-corrodible stopper and to seat t e same inthe discharge-opening of the sprinklerhead in such manner as to endurefor any period of time without liability of deterioraadhering to itsseat when the detent is fused.

A further object is to hold the stopper in place under a yielding orcushion pressure of some yielding material interposed between the detentand stopper, so as to allow for ordinary contraction and expansion byvarying climatic conditions or temperatures.

A further object is to confine the stopperholding mechanism within acomparatively small space between the arms of the sprinkler-head and toavoid any exterior projections which might be struck or displacedby. Thestopper and parts.

extraneous forces. engaged directly therewith are held in place by whatis commonly known as a strut or struts, bridging the space betweenthecap of the stopper, and asuitable adjusting-screw, by which the strut islocked in place and one of my objects is to seat the lower end of thestrut in the stopper-cap in such manner that when assembled the cap andstrut will be locked against certain rotary movements.

A still further object is to make the strut in two sections or plateslapped upon each other face to face and held together by fusibleconnections against the action of an interposed spring, so that when thestrutplates are released by the fusing of such connections the springwill immediately act to separate the plates, and thereby break theintegrity of the strut, leaving the stopper free to be forced from itsseat by the pressure of the water within the head.

Other objects and uses will be brought out in the following description.In the drawings, Figure 1 is a face view of my improved sprinkler-headshown as attached to one of the'pipes of a sprinkler system. Fig. 2 is asectional view taken on line 2 2, Fig; 1. Fig. 3 is a top plan of thesprinklerhead with the strut-retaining screw in section to show the lockbetween the spraylug-disk and upper end of the sprinkler-head.

perspective .views of the detached sections of the strut. Fig. 7 is aperspective view of the opposed spring which is operatively assembledbetween the struts. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the detached clampby whiclrthe strut-sections are held together against the action of thespring. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of one of the detached heads of theclamp. Figs. 10, 11, 12, and 13 are perspective views, respectively, ofthe glass stopper, the cap for said stopper, a yielding cushion orbufler between the cap and stopper, and the lead washer which forms thestoppenseat.

- The sprinkler-head roperconsists of a onepiece frame or yoke, 0 bronzemetal, comprising a hollowbase-section 1, arms 2 converging upwardlyfrom diametrically opposite sides of the base 1 and united at the top.The base 1 is provided with a central exit or discharge opening 3,extending therethrough from bottom t9 top, and is usually threadedexternally to adapt it to be screwed into one .of the pipes, as a, ofthe sprinkler system. The upper end of the base 1 terminates between thearms 2 and is provided with a comparatively smooth angular seat or face5 for the race tion of a lead washer 0r steam-gasket 6 and g ass stopper7. The stopper 7 has its lower end adapted to fit within the upper end Iof the exit-opening 3 andis usually passedthrough the central opening inthe washer 5, the upper end of said glass stopper being enlarged,forming an annular flange 8 of greater diameter than the adjacent end ofthe opening 3 and adapted to rest upon the upper face of the washer 6.

A circular disk 9, of cork or similar material, of substantially thesame diameter asthe flange 8 is interposed between the upper face 'ofsaid flange or top face of the stopper 7 and without liability ofopening said stopper and also acting as a cushion between the metal cap9 and glass stopper to prevent abrasion or breaking of the glass by themetal when the parts are positively forced into operative positlon.

The cap 9 is preferably made in the form of an inverted cup, having adepending marginal flange surrounding and fitting closely upon the sidesof the glass stopper to retain the latter centrally in its adjustedposition, although the reduced lower end of the stopper fitting into theupper end of the exit-opening serves to additionally center and, retainthe stopper against lateral displacement. This cap 9 may be made of anysuitable metal, as brass or aluminum, and is provided with a centralboss 14, having a transverse elongatedgroove 15, depressed at thecenter, for receivin the lower end of the strut and retaining it'in edoperating relation to the cap, so that the cap and strut are heldagainst lateral rotary movement. The strut 11 comprises inthis instancetwo comparatively thin metal plates 16 and 17, preferably ofsilver,rnetal, or other non-corrodible metal substance, which areconnected by a clamp 19 and are adapted to be forced apart by aninterposed comparatively stiff bow-spring 20a The strut-platelfiisprovided at one end with a depending transversely-elongated rib 21,which is offs'et'atone side of the main body of the plateand has itslower edge con.- vexed to fit 1n the groove in the 11 per side of theboss 14,- and thereby lock ,t e cap and strut against rotary movementwhen the parts are assembled in theiro erative posttions.

ing ownwardly fromthe upper extremity for receiving'the intermediateportion of the clamp 19. i

The strut-plate 1,7 is .slotted upwardly at 23 from its lower end, alsofor receiving the in The opposite end of t e strut-plate 16 isrovided'with alengthwis'e slot,2 2, open:

g aged in a threaded aperture 27 in the junction of the upper ends ofthe arms 2 and is also engaged with a central threaded aperture 28 in aspray-cap 29, the screw serving to The clamp 19 is composed of a centralbar 33 and opposite end heads 34, each of the lat ter having anelongated slot 35 for receiving the adjacent end of the bar 33, the slot36 be'- ing slightly wider than the thickness of the bar'33 and isartially closed by a comparatively thin L-. iape plate 38, which issoldered to the outer face of .the head 34 and is fitted tightly againstthe adjacent end of the bar 33 at one side of the slot, so as to holdsaid bar against the opposite side of the slot. It now appears that eachof the heads 34 is provided with one of the retainer-plates 38 and thateach-retainer-plate is secured to its opposite head and to the adj acentendof the bar 33 by a solder which is fusible under a com aratively lowtemperature. This fusible solder is carefully worked into thejointsbetween the plates 34 and 38 andbar 33,.s0 as to firmly lock the headsto the bar against relative endwise movement, said heads being thusperma: nently secured to the bar 33 a SUffiClGhtdlS- tance apart topermit the strut-plates16 and "17 and spring 20 to -be easily insertedbetween the heads 34 and upon the bar 33, the

strut-plates 16 and 17 being held together against the tensionof theinterposed spring 20., which tends to force the plates 16 and 17 fromeach other and a a'instthe inner facesof the'heads 34of the 0 amp 19.-i4 I The retainer-plates 38' aresoldered to the IIO outer faces of theheads 34 and are therefore exposed to any heatwhich might be caused bya-fire within the vicinity of the s 'rinklers.

. head, inwhichcasethesolder wo d be instantly fused orinelted, therebyfirst releas ing the plates 38 and'heads '34 from secure ment to the bar33. The spring 20, which is.

now tending to force the strut- 18136916 and 17 apart, causes the latterto orce the un soldered heads 34 from the ,ends of the bar 33,

t e lower end of'the stopper 7 V i It will be observed'u onreferencetothe allowing.the strut-plates to tilt or rockone upon the other untilthey fill or are forced a art bythe'pressure of the water againstdrawings, particularly lgs. 2 and '4, that the v lowerflxend ofthe-.strut-sections l7 rests ina' groove or-upon a shoulder 39 on thestrut-sec'- tion 16 near its lowerend and atone side of theyerticalplane" of the bearingof the lower end of the strut-section 16 inthe groove 14 'The upward pressure which is exerted against the lowerend of the strut-section 16 is therefore at one side of the bearing ofthe strut-section 17 upon the section 16, so that as the upward pressureis exerted upon the lower end of the struts 16 its upper end is tiltedor,rocked laterally, aided by'the spring 20, to break the tie betweenthe strut-sections, and thereby re lease the stopper. The object inmaking the slot or opening in the head 34 considerably wider than thethickness of the bar 33 is to prevent any possibility of the bar bindingin the opening when the the fusing of the solder. This widened slot alsoserves to permit the entrance of a portion of. the solder at thejunction of the'head 34 and plate between the bar 33 and one'side of theslot in the plate 34, and thereby forming a more positive bond at saidjunction. The cork disk between the cap 10 and stopper 8 not onlyaffords a yielding cushion' between said parts to allow for the slightexpansion and contraction of the strut members without opening thestopper, but also preverits any liability of cracking the glass sto perby contact of the metal cap therewit when the struts are firmly screweddo onto the cap. The lead washer which is inte osed between the glassstopper and its metai seat also prevents cracking of the glass, at thesame time forms a water-tight packing at the joint.

What I claim is 1. In a sprinkler-head, a base having an openingtherethrough and arms diverging upwardly from opposite sides .of thebase and united at the top, a screw in the top, a glass sto perfor theopening, a cap for the stopper, an a strut between the screw and cap,said strut comprising two furcated plates, and a clamp inserted in thefurcated ends of the plates and provided with end heads held by afusible bond, and means for forcing-the plates apart when the bond isfused.

In a sprinkler-head, a base having an opening therethrough and oppositearms converging 'u wardly and united at the top, a screw 1n t e top, astopper for the opening, a strut betwee the screw and stop er, saidstrut comprisiyiig opposite furcated p ates, an lnterpose apart, and aclamp inserted in the furcated plates, including a fusible element forholding said plates against the pressure of the spring.

3. In a sprinkler-head, a base having a central lengthwise openingtherethrough and plate 38 is released by 38, filling the excess ofopening an annular shoulder of spring tending to force the plates aframe rising from the base, a stopper for ble means for tying the headsto the bar, and

a spring interposed between the lates tending to force thelatter'against the eads,

4. A sprinkler-head consisting of a frame having an opening in its baseand a screw in its to a glass stopper in the opening, a lead seat or thestopper, a cap fitting over the sto per, a yielding cushion between thecap ant sto per, a strut between. the screw'and cap, sai of which isseated on the cap and provided with a shoulder at one side ofthevertical lane of the seat, the other plate having its lbwer endseated on said shoulder and its up per end engaged with the screw, aspring be tween the lates tending to press them later.- ally, and usiblemeans for tying the plates together.

5. In an automatic s rinkler, a frame having an opening in its ase, aglass stopper having a reduced lower portion fitting in the openingandits upper end enlarged forming greater diameter than the o ening, a leadseat for said annular shoul er, a cap fitted over the upperend of thestopper, a yielding cushion between the cap and stopper, a screw in the.top of the frame, a strut between the screw and cap and com risingopposite upright lates, one of said p ates having its lower end seatedon the cap and rovided with a laterally-prohaving its jecting shoul er,the other plate lower end seated on the shoulder and its upper endbearing against the screw, aspring etween the plates tending to forcethem apart and a clamp for holding'said plates against the action of thespring and including fusible parts adapted to be melted by heat torelease the clamp, spring to force the plates apart for the purpose ofreleasing the stopper when the strut isbroken. V In witness whereof Ihave hereunto hand this 1st day of November, 1906.

JAMES A.-oAss.

set my Witnesses:

' P.;J. CooNEY,

DELANEY.

strut comprising opposite plates one I05 and thereby permit the IIO-

